middle grade

Re-Reading a Classic: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

~ megs14malloy

The HobbitThe Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️

We sang a lot of songs and spun many a riddle. Alas, another adventure through Middle Earth comes to an end.

Picking this up, I couldn’t recall 100% if I had read it before. After reading the first two chapters though, I definitely believe I have; most likely as a tween.

I had fun revisiting Bilbo’s life and adventures. Some of the aspects were very familiar, while others, not so much. I’m happy I reread it via audio, because the narration by Rob Inglis was so perfect for this story.

He has such a classic storyteller voice. It was easy to get swept up and away into everything that was going on, and there is A LOT going on.

The assignment of Bilbo as a burglar was funny, because that was definitely not a position he ever saw himself falling into. He had certainly never had an adventure like this before and I liked watching him grow and change during his time with the Dwarves and Gandalf.

I will say, for me personally, this doesn’t hit quite like the main LOTR trilogy. This one is a bit choppy, and my word, the songs. Why must we have so many songs?

Actually, the audiobook, the songs were so off-key it was absolutely hilarious. I did feel bad for my dog though, who was forced to listen to this on a 5-hour road trip. He must have been thinking, what the fluff are we listening too?

The story itself, after the opening bits, which I thought were grand, does get a little clunky as our traveling group is going about their mission.

It also felt like a lot of the major events were just sort of glossed over. Nevertheless, it’s a classic for a reason. It’s a wonderful story and a great intro to this world. I’m looking forward to rereading the full LOTR trilogy this year!

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Review: Vampire Breath (Classic Goosebumps #21) by R.L. Stine

~ megs14malloy

Vampire Breath (Classic Goosebumps, #21)Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Vampire Breath is the 21st-book in the Classics Goosebumps Reprint series; it was #49 in the original Goosebumps series.

I received the entire Reprint series for Christmas a couple of years ago and have been slowly revisiting these classic tales. They’re just so silly and nostalgic. I love picking them up every once and while as a palate cleanser.

In this story we meet Freddy and Cara. They’re around 12-years old, I think, and best friends. Their friendship-style is a bit combative, they are always rough-housing and trying to one-up each other with how tough they are.

For those of you who have read many Goosebumps books, this will not surprise you, as it’s something that Stine includes quite a bit. If you are newer to these stories, you may possibly read this and be like, wait, these two are friends? They seem more like enemies?

There’s not a lot of kind, supportive, non-contentious relationships to be found in the Goosebumps world. Nevertheless, to me, this is old hat, so I grew use to their combativeness fairly quickly.

On one particular day, they’re playing together in Freddy’s basement, and while rather aggressively wrestling around, they end up knocking over a piece of furniture, revealing a secret door behind it.

Unable to stifle their curiosity, they end up going through the door to explore. They stumble into a mysterious chamber where they find a bottle labeled, Vampire Breath.

Like the proverbial pandora’s box, when they crack that bottle open, a whole host of unexpected and problematic events begin happening to them. Will either Freddy, or Cara, make it through this Saturday unscathed?

I read this one in just under 2-hours. I was on a ferry to the mainland for an appointment and it was a great way to pass my very early morning travels.

It doesn’t require a lot of brain power, but I did find it engaging enough to keep me interested. It had a typical Stein ending, IYKYK, but nonetheless, an entertaining tale. We love a vampire story in this house!

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Review: Nightmare in the Backyard (Eek! #2) by Jeff Strand

~ megs14malloy

Nightmare in the Backyard (Eek!)Nightmare in the Backyard by Jeff Strand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was cute as heck. It had Lovecraftian-type creatures, perfect for a new generation of Horror Readers!

I loved the first book in this new Eek! series, It Watches in the Dark, by veteran Horror author, Jeff Strand, so I’ve been anticipating this release.

This has a classic set-up, with three girls, Chloe, Avery and Madison, doing a little backyard camping. It’s the best way to have a sleepover, IMO.

The girls are just settling in when the neighbor, Elijah, stops by to say hi. They just know he’ll be back later too, trying to prank them. Typical boy behavior.

Sure enough, they hear scratching on the outside of their tent later in the evening. Fully expecting to catch Elijah red-handed, they rush to open the tent flap and look out, but it appears there’s no one there.

A little creeped out, they retreat back into their tent, but not long after the scratching noises return.

Getting more freaked out by the second, the girls desperately want to figure out the source of the scratching, but the truth turns out to be much worse than the girls could’ve dreamed of, even in their worst nightmares.

Nightmare in the Backyard is a wildly-entertaining Middle Grade Horror story reminiscent of the Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark stories of the olden’ days.

I had the privilege of listening to the audiobook and feel that the narration is perfect for this age category. The narrator brought these characters and the insane circumstances they found themselves in to life. I def recommend that format.

I loved how fast-paced this story was and how the kids really worked well together trying to figure out exactly what was happening in the backyard. It was a lot. Wild, crazy and zany enough to keep Young Readers thoroughly entertained.

Also, I do want to note that these books can be read in any order. Just like the Goosebumps series, these books aren’t really related. It’s all new characters and circumstances.

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Kids and Tantor Media, for providing me copies to read and review. I’m not sure how many installments are slated for this series, but I will be reading them all, I can assure you of that!

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Review: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

~ megs14malloy

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive BakingA Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite things about her work is her versatility. Her ability to write stories for people of all ages is unsurpassed.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, which follows 14-year old Mona, won prizes in both the Young Adult and Children’s Literature categories. I honestly couldn’t tell you which age group this would be more fitting for, as I truly feel it can be enjoyed by Readers of all ages.

I have had this delightful little novel quietly lurking on my TBR for years, but recently was urged to pick it up when it was selected as the monthly read for a Book Club I participate in. I’m so glad it was chosen.

Our discussion was on a Saturday afternoon and I had no problem getting through the audiobook that morning just prior. It read so quickly, and kept me fully-engaged while doing my Saturday deep house clean.

I loved meeting Mona and, surprising me not for a moment, her narrative voice was quirky, witty and fun. I also enjoyed the journey her character went on over the course of the story, as she goes from mere baker’s aid to the magical girl with the power to save a kingdom.

As usual, Kingfisher infused this story with her humor and heart. She has such a fantastic ability for creating lovable and memorable characters, including some of the best animal, and inanimate object, characters that I’ve ever read.

I feel like there is some great messages in here for younger readers as well. I can see how this could feel like an empowering story for them, where they’re shown they can do big things, and important things.

Mona’s baking magic was super cute and I liked watching her confidence grow throughout the story. Her differences, which once made her self-conscious, ended up being what qualified her to succeed where others couldn’t.

I laughed, stressed when characters were in danger and I fell in love with Mona and friends. Overall, this is a lovely read. Fast-paced, funny, wildly-entertaining, pure Kingfisher joy.

I’m so glad that I finally made time for this one. I definitely recommend it to anyone, of any age, who loves a fun and magical fairy tale-feeling romp!

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Review: Shark Night by R.L. Stine

~ megs14malloy

Shark NightShark Night by R. L. Stine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Shark Night is a fast, fun and engaging scary story for kids, by legendary children’s author, R.L. Stine.

I listened to this audiobook, fabulously narrated by Ramon de Ocampo, and highly recommend that as a format. Told via 1st-person POV, de Ocampo truly brought MC, Liam, to life. It really felt like you were listening to Liam tell his story.

Liam’s Mom is a Documentary Filmmaker who specializes in Nature Docs. Her latest assignment involves making a film for the Danger Channel for Shark Week.

She comes up with a great idea to submerge a diver into a tank, along with a big shark, to see what happens. I mean, what could go wrong?

After the original diver is injured, Liam is forced to fill in, because Stine’s parental characters always make the worst decisions ever. We all know this.

On the day of filming, everything possible goes wrong and Liam founds himself swept out to sea, forced to fight for his life. Will he be able to figure out a way out of this?

This was a lot of fun. It gets wild. I was completely entertained. I laughed out loud, cringed, yelled at some of the characters and couldn’t believe how quickly it read.

This does feature a classic Stine ending, and another frequent feature of Stine books, a bratty younger sibling.

While, personally, I wish that the ending could have gone in a different direction, I still do appreciate the story as a whole. It works. Kids will love this.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Blackstone Publishing, for providing me with a copy of the audiobook. I love to keep up with Stine’s latest releases and this one delivered!

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Review: It Watches in the Dark (Eek! #1) by Jeff Strand

~ megs14malloy

It Watches in the Dark (Eek!)It Watches in the Dark by Jeff Strand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

🎃🖤🎃🖤🎃🖤🎃🖤🎃🖤🎃🖤🎃🖤🎃

It Watches in the Dark is a fantastically-tense Spooky Middle Grade story, and the first book in the all-new Eek! series by veteran Horror author, Jeff Strand.

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the cover. How devilishly-divine is that scarecrow!? It’s giving me all the Autumnal vibes that I cherish in my every day life.

Jumping into this one, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I ended up enjoying it so much. The writing is fluid and engaging, with eerie Horror imagery throughout. I loved how quickly it kicked off, and never let up.

In this story, we follow twins, Trisha and Oliver. At the start of our tale they are on a canoe trip with their Dad, which is something they do often. On this particular trip through, they hit a series of unexpected rapids and their Dad is injured, knocked unconscious.

Not knowing exactly what to do, the kids tie up to the first dock they find and go ashore in search of help.

They end up coming across a tiny town in the woods, Escrow, population 999. Everything about the place seems a little odd, but beggars can’t be choosers, right? The twins seriously need to find their Dad help.

They meet a few townspeople, who though strange, seem to be willing enough to help, and they’re adults, they have to know what they’re doing.

Their Dad is retrieved and taken to the local medical center, but from there the kids are kept away from him. Germs and all that. Oliver and Trisha are left to their own devices and the more time they spend in Escrow, the more their senses tell them to beat feet out of there.

Perhaps it’s the enormous creepy scarecrow sitting sentinel in the town square that’s giving them that feeling. It seems to be watching them and the townspeople are obsessed with it, talking about it like it’s a living being.

As dark approaches, the kids are feeling panicked. They want to leave. They do not want to spend the night in Escrow, but they can’t move their Dad on their own.

The townspeople become more threatening and it suddenly feels imperative to escape. Will the kids be able to figure out a way to rescue their Dad and flee Escrow together, or will this be the end of the road for one, or all, of them?

It Watches in the Dark is a super solid Spooky Middle Grade read. I would definitely recommend this to any Reader who enjoys Middle Grade Horror.

It does have a sort of Goosebumps charm to it, but was creepier than that, really. Especially the initial chapters. I appreciate how Strand set-up this spooky town. It was definitely getting under my skin.

The more the kids interacted with the residents of Escrow, the more tense and stressed out I felt. I just wanted them to run away, but they couldn’t after their Dad was taken to the medical center. They didn’t want to abandon him, of course, and they were still wanting to trust these adults so much.

Oliver and Trisha were great too. I liked that they worked together and appreciated each others strengths, instead of just fighting all the time, as siblings tend to do in fiction.

Overall, I found this extremely entertaining. I think Strand did a great job of making this punchy, with plenty of action and spookiness on every page. I already have an early copy of the next book in the series, Nightmare in the Backyard and I’m excited to get to it!

Thank you to the publisher, SOURCEBOOKS Kids, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was such a fun read; very well done!

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Review: Goblin Monday (Goosebumps: House of Shivers #2) by R.L. Stine

~ megs14malloy

Goblin Monday (Goosebumps House of Shivers #2)Goblin Monday by R.L. Stine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Goblin Monday is the 2nd-book in the House of Shivers series.

This entire franchise holds a very special place in my heart, and I was excited when I learned that Stine was adding another limb to the Goosebumps family tree.

I really enjoyed the 1st-installment, Goosebumps: House of Shivers: Scariest. Book. Ever., when I read it last year. It was fast-paced, with a great antagonist and spooky creatures. Overall, a very solid Goosebumps read.

Jumping into this one, I was feeling confident and loved how this one kicked off. The set-up was great and I was anticipating a solid ride all the way through.

In this story we follow Mario. He grew up in South Florida and has very recently moved North with his family. On his first winter break, he gets invited along a holiday trip with his new friends, Todd and Jewel.

Todd and Jewel’s grandparents live in Vermont and their parents take them up there every year. When Marco gets invited along for the trip, he is ecstatic. He’s going to get to see snow for the first time!

He’s warned on the car ride up that Grandpa Tweety and Mom Mom are a bit on the eccentric side, but they’re purportedly harmless and wickedly entertaining.

Mario enters their home with an open heart and excitement for all the adventures that lay ahead that week. Little did he know that soon he would be fighting for his life.

As the cover and synopsis indicate, this story does involve goblins. The way Stine introduced the idea of goblins being on the Vermont property, and slowly bringing them to life on the page, was engaging and admittedly, creepy as heck.

Mario didn’t notice the ominous nature of the events happening at the home as quickly as I thought he would, but once he did, it was hard watching him try to get his friends to believe in the things he had seen and experienced.

They weren’t taking him seriously, brushing off his concerns, and I was getting as frustrated as he was!

I found almost the entirety of this book gripping and fun, but the very end just blew the whole thing for me.

Ultimately, I was really conflicted on how to rate it. It’s so good, I was hooked, right up until the final two scenes. I was seriously was thinking that this could actually be a unicorn 5-star Goosebumps read.

But then, Stine just did his thing where the end is so freaking bizarre and makes no sense in context with the rest of the story. Why, Mr. Stine? Why?

Honestly though, even with that being said, it’s still absolutely worth a read. There were some genuinely scary scenes up until those final few moments.

There’s a lot of creepy content involving birds, and wandering around in a snow-filled forest feeling like something is following you. The build-up and development was great, but yeah, that ending; not good.

Obviously, I still recommend this to any fan of the Goosebumps franchise. We all know at this point the tricks that Stine oftentimes pulls at the end. To long time Readers, you’ll most likely just SYH at this conclusion.

And as far as new Readers go, I always encourage jumping in on new series from the beginning, as soon as you can. It’s fun to just read along from the start as they’re released, and I plan to continue to do so with this series.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Scholastic Paperbacks, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

It looks like the 3rd-installment is going to be a Mummy story and I’m so ready for it. I will never stop reading R.L. Stine’s work, because no matter how old I get, you’re never too old for Goosebumps!!

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Review: Whichwood (Furthermore #2) by Tahereh Mafi

~ megs14malloy

WhichwoodWhichwood by Tahereh Mafi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After taking 7-months off, I’ve finally decided to return to my TBR-Haul Project. For those who don’t know, this is a self-imposed project for myself, essentially aimed at crossing books off of my backlist TBR of purchased books.

Basically, I buy a ton of books and then never read them. My Reading Journal contains a spread each month of books hauled and I have been going through them month-by-month, and picking a few off that list to finally pick up.

It had been going quite well. I’ve found quite a few 5-star reads via this project. But then it sort of sputtered out.

One of my goals for this year is to return to it, ideally, picking up at least one book for it each month. This is my first for the year and I started it on January 31st, so it’s not off to a real rousing start…

It’s not too late to reach my goal though, so I have selected Whichwood as Book #19 for the project. I hauled this back in March 2019, and of course, never read it.

This past Fall, I did pick up the first book in this duology, Furthermore, on audio through my local library. I thought it was so cute and fun, as well as fabulously narrated by the fabulous, Bronson Pinchot.

I was so excited to return to this magical Middle Grade Fantasy world, Mafi’s whimsical storytelling and Pinchot’s enchanting narration.

With this being said, I was concerned that I wouldn’t end up enjoying this one as much as the first book. I was so wrong!

Part of my hesitation was that I didn’t know how closely this book would be related to the first one. I knew we were following a new MC, Laylee, and I felt like I was really going to miss Alice and Oliver from Furthermore.

I was so delighted to discover both Alice and Oliver play a huge role in this story!

This again was emotional, heart-felt, filled with important lessons and conversations that fit nicely into magical Middle Grade. Regardless of the age level designation, this is the type of story that can be appreciated by audiences of all ages.

This duology is the first work I have read from Tahereh Mafi and it has made me beyond excited to check out more of Mafi’s work.

Leave your favorites down below in the comments!!!

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Review: Goosebumps: Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls (Classic Goosebumps #31) by R.L. Stine

~ megs14malloy

Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls (Classic Goosebumps #31)Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls by R.L. Stine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls is the 31st-book in the Classic Goosebumps reprint series. I read this one in a couple hours after receiving it for Christmas.

I am happy to report it’s definitely one of the fun ones. It’s not perfect, but as Goosebumps go, it’s pretty darn good. A great way to pass a relaxing afternoon.

In this story we meet Spencer and he’s a little awkward, not necessarily one of the popular boys. He gets picked on a bit, made worse when he is forced to read an essay he had written aloud to the class and his teacher has nothing but praise for him.

How dare she!? But when the teacher notices the kids turning on Spencer, she doubles down. Spencer’s story involved the local graveyard and the teacher comes up with the idea to take a field trip there the very next day.

In absolute Goosebumps logic, that’s exactly what they do, pre-planning and permission slips be damned!!

Her idea is for the kids to do some grave rubbings and she’ll ultimately turn it into a local history lesson, if nothing else.

As the kids are exploring the graveyard, Spencer accidentally knocks over an eerie-looking tombstone. After that, all heck hits the fan for poor Spencer.

This story involves graveyard ghouls inhabiting bodies and wrecking havoc on the town. Spencer does have one good friend, Audra, and she’s fairly involved in the action as well.

I fully expected this to be one of the stories where Stine strings you along, all to discover at the end that it was a dream, or prank. I’m not saying that that didn’t happen, but I did give it 4-stars, so…

There were a couple details that progressed the plot that I wasn’t necessarily crazy about; mostly involving animals. Overall though, that didn’t affect my enjoyment too much.

I did think that the ending was super fun. It left a sinister little smirk on my face. OMG, Stine, you tricky bugger.

I would recommend this one to Goosebumps fans. It definitely has that classic formula that made me nostalgic for the horror stories of younger years. I’ll never stop reading these books. It’s just part of who I am. Well done by Stine!

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Review: Sabotage on the Solar Express (Adventures on Trains #5) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman

~ megs14malloy

Sabotage on the Solar Express (Adventures on Trains, #5)Sabotage on the Solar Express by M.G. Leonard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sabotage on the Solar Express is the 5th-book in my favorite Middle Grade series, Adventures on Trains.

If you haven’t seen me gush about this series before, let me just give you are brief overview of what it is about.

This series follows Hal, a talented young artist with a penchant for solving mysteries. Hal’s Uncle Nat is a travel writer, who specializes in trains, and he takes Hal along with him on some of his journeys.

Hence the name of the series.

In this installment, we travel to Australia, where billionaire tech mogul and train enthusiast, August Reza, is set to run the maiden voyage of the winning design of his Reza’s Rocket competition.

We first met August Reza, and his daughter, Marianne, in the second-book of the series, Kidnap on the California Comet. Having made friendships over the course of that journey, Nat and Hal are graciously invited onto this test run for the new train, dubbed the Solar Express.

A child from Australia, Boaz, designed the winning train with his hybrid locomotive, driven by hydrogen fuel cells and solar power. Reza believes this design has the potential to change the future of train travel.

But during the journey from Alice Springs to Darwin, the train is sabotaged and soon they are running out of control through the vast expanse of the Australian Outback.

Will Hal and friends be able to discover the saboteur and stop the runaway train before it runs off the tracks, no doubt with disastrous, and maybe deadly, results?

As usual, this story was such a delight to read. I loved being back with Hal and Nat. We kick off rather quickly with them already being in Australia, and before you know it, the Solar Express has started her journey.

There are a couple of different mysteries tossed our way before we even discover the sabotage. I liked how intriguing all the elements were together. Were they related, were they not? It was really well plotted.

This is definitely the biggest thrill ride of series thus far. At times this felt like a version of the movie Speed reimagined for kids. There were some real pulse-pounding moments. Through it all, Hal stayed true to his character with a cool head and analytical mind.

We had a nice set-up for the next book, which it sounds like takes place over Christmas holiday for Hal. I can’t wait to pick it up. It sounds like a perfect Winter read.

I definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a solid, heart-warming, engaging Children’s Mystery. This can honestly be enjoyed by Readers of all ages!

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